Machine for preparing tobacco-leaves for manufacture into cigars, &amp;c.



PATENTED 'APR. 14, 1903. P. H. ERTHBILER. MACHINE FOR PREPARING TOBACCOLEAVES FOR'MANUFAGTURB INTO CIGARS, &0. APPLICATION Hm, AUG. 10,1902.

8 SHEETS-SHEET}.

. F0 MODEL.

ENVENTQR.

WITNESSES m. 725,059. PATENTEDA'PR. 14, 1903.

P. H. ERTHEILER'. MACHINE FOR PREPARING TOBACCO LEAVES FOR MANUFACTUREINTO CIGARS, 8:0. I

' APPLICATION FILED AUG. 16, 1902. N0 MODEL.

8 sums-$112M 2.

WITNESSES INVENTOR $1 I aw m No. 725.059. PATENTED APR. 14, 1903. P. H.ERTHEILEB. MACHINE FOR PREPARING TOBACCO LEAVES FOR MANUFACTURE INTOCIGARS, 6w.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 16, 1902.

WTNESSES: A INVENTOR 'elevation.

UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICE.

PHILIP H. ERTI-IEILER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE FOR PREPARING TOBACCO-LEAVES FOR MANUFACTURE INTO CIGARS, do.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 725,059, dated April14, 1903. Application filed August 16,1902. Serial No. 119,869. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP H. ERTHEILER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Machines for Preparing Tobacco-Leaves for Manufactureinto Cigars or other Tobacco Products, of which the following is aspecification.

The object of the invention is to reduce the thickness of the stems andveins of the leaves of tobacco to the thickness of the web withoutdisintegrating the leaves, and thus render the entire material of theleaf availably valuable for manufacture.

My present invention is an improvement upon the inventions set forth inmy applica tions for Letters Patent, Serial No. 69,599, filed July 26,1901, and Serial No. 92,169, filed February 1, 1902, both of like titlewith the present application; and it consists in im-' provements inmeans of guiding, driving, and

for facilitating the feeding of leaves to the;

adjusting the endless aprons,in arrangements 1 machine, and in improvedconstruction of the scrapers or doctors for removing the.

leaves, and improvement in the means of removing and replacing therollers and aprons I in said machine.

bodying these improvements.

Figure 1 shows a side elevation of the machine.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation. Fig. 4 is a rear Fig. 2 is a top view orground plan.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detached.

side view showing the supporting mechanism for a guiding-roll anddoctor. Fig. 6 is a detached front View of the device for raising,

removing, and replacingthe rolls. Fig. 7 is -'an enlarged end or sideview of the same.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged section of one of the bearings. Fig. 9 is anenlarged view of a part of the frame supporting the roll for stretchingthe upper endless apron. Fig. 10 is a vertical section through the rollsin the plane indicated by the line so 00 in Fig. 2, and Fig. 11 shows'an enlarged view of the cam for vibrating the doctor.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the frame of the machine,consisting of two parallel sills or bars 2 and 2, held together bytransverse braces 3 and supported on legframes 4:. On the sills 2 and 2is firmly fixed apron avoid breaking the apron.

.a bed-plate 5, having rigidly attached to it housings 6 and 6'. In thehousings 6 and 6 are fitted bearing-boxes 7 and 7, in which turn thejournals of the lower roll 8. A second pair of bearing-boxes 9 and 9'are fitted in the housings 6 and 6 above the boxes 7 and 7, in whichboxes 9 and 9 are fitted to ing on the boxes 9 and 9, downwardly, so asto force the upper roll 10 with an elastic pressure downwardly towardthe lower roll 8 and by yielding to any inequalities in the A gear-Wheel 16, propelled by a pinion 67 and secured upon the arbor 8 of thelower roll 8, turns it and a pinion 17 on the opposite end of the arbor8 communicates motion through a like pinion 18, on the arbor 1-0' of theupper roll, turns the upper roll 10 with the same velocity asthe lowerroll. The rolls 8 and 10 are preferably made of chilled iron and shouldbe of such diameter as not to bow or spring apart in the center whenbeing used and not to bend the endless aprons, hereinafter described,beyond their safe limits of elastic flexibility.

Upon the sills 2 and 2 are secured bearings 20 and 20, with cleft oropen tops, so as to permit of the easylifting out and replacing of therollers 23 and 23', having journals 22 and 22 fitted to turn in bearings20 and 20. The bearings 20 and 20 are adjustable lengthwise with thedirection of the frame 2 and 2' by means of screws 21 and nuts 21', andelastic washers or springs 22 are placed upon the screws 21, so as byyielding to accommodate any irregularities in tension of an endlessapron 24:, of non-corrodible sheet metal, which is passed around therollers 23 and 23 and above and below the roller 8.

Bearings 25 and 25, having open clefts, are fixed upon the sills 2 and 2and support rollers 26, which sustain the apron 24: in horizontal planesand from which bearings the rollers 26 are easily removed and replaced.

To the sills 2 and 2 are fixed hinged bearings 27, supporting a frame28, having opencleft bearings 29, in which turn the journals 30 of aroller 31. The frame 28 is raised and lowered toward and from a verticalposition by screws 32, pivotally attached thereto, and nuts 33,supported elastically by springs 33, resting upon tubular sleeves 34,into which the screws 32 telescope, pivotally attached to the sills 2and 2.

To the housings 6 and 6 are attached vertically-adjustable brackets 35,supporting horizontally-adj ustable bearings 36, in which turn thejournals 37 of an idle roller 38. The brackets 35 are secured to thehousings 6 and 6 by bolts 35, having heads fitted in vertical T-headedslots 32 in the housings 6 and 6, and nuts 35". The bearings 36 aresecured to the horizontal arms of the brackets 35 by bolts 36 passingthrough slots in the bracket 35 and nuts 36 and are adjusted byfinethreaded screws, fitted in the brackets 35 and the bearings 36.

An endless apron 39, of non corrodible metal, passes around the roller31, above the roller 38, and around the roll 10. The roller 31 isrotated by sprocket-wheels 61, driven by chain 62, receiving motion fromsprocketwheels 63, turning on an axis coincident with the bearings 27and driven by sprocketwheels 64 and chains 65 from sprocket-wheels 66 onthe arbor 68 of the driving-pinion 67, so that the transmission ofrotary motion shall not be interrupted by changing the adjustment ofposition of the roller 31 and the bearings supporting the same.

The frame 28 is stiffened laterally by diagonal braces 28 and tofacilitate adjustment is provided with a coarse or quick threaded screwand nut 41, connected by pivots 39 and 40, centrally located in thecross-bars 42 and 42, so that the roller 31 can be quickly raised intoposition and afterward adjusted as to tension in the endless apron 39 bythe nuts 33.

A doctor 43, supported pivotally in bearings 44, is pressed elasticallyagainst the apron 39 by means of springs 45 and serves to remove anyparticles of leaves adhering to the apron 39. The bearings 44 of thedocton43 are adjustably attached to horizontal arms or brackets 46,which are secured adjust-ably as to height to the housings 6 and 6.

The efficiency of the doctor in detaching particles of leaf from theapron is increased by imparting a vibratory motion to it in thedirection of the axis of its pivots, such motion being derived from acam 47 on the arbor of the upper roller 10 operating an arm 47, attachedto the doctor 43.

A doctor 48 is pivotally supported in bearings 48 and is elasticallypressed against the apron 24, so as to detach any leaves adhering to theapron. The doctor 48 is pressed into contact with the apron 24 by meansof springs 50 and derives a rapid vibratory motion in a directionparallel with its length from a cam 51, attached to the arbor of theroller 23.

- The rollers 23 and 23 are driven by sprocketwheels 52 and 53 and 54and 55 and endless chains 56 and 57, motion to the wheels 53 and 55being imparted from the arbor 8 of the roll 8, to which arbor they areattached.

The apron 24 extends a sufficient length in horizontal position in frontof the rollers 8 and 10 to afford spac e for several attendants to placeleaves upon it, and thus enables the machine to be run with suchvelocity as to treat a large amount of leaves. The leaves requiring tobe opened by hand as they are placed upon the apron, the feeding by asingle attendent is in consequence too slow to work the machine to acommercial paying capacity, and for this purpose long feeding-boards 56are provided upon each side of the apron 24, enabling the attendants toplace leaves upon it at several points simultaneously.

The grapnel shown in Figs. 6 and 7 consists of a sleeve 57, fitting uponthe arbors 8 and 10 of the rolls 8 and 10, having a bar 58, at tachedparallel with the axis of the roll to which it is applied, and on thebar 58 is fitted a clevis 58, into which is hooked a tackleblock 59,suspended from a trolley 60, located over the housing 6 and 6 and ofsuch length as to travel with the rolls clear of the aprons 24 and 39for the purpose of removingthe rolls and replacing them in position withthe aprons.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The several attendants standon each outer side of the feeding boards and open the leaves of tobacco,lay them upon the apron 24 with the stems at right angles to the lengthof the apron, and the machine being put in motion by the gear 16 theleaves are conveyed between aprons 24 and 39 and pressed thereon betweenthe rolls 8 and 10, so as to spread the stems in width and to reducetheir thickness approximately to that of the web portion of the leaves.The leaves meeting the doctor 43 are removed from the apron anddelivered ready for use. To remove the rolls from the housings, thepinion 18' is removed from the arbor 10' of the upper roll, and thegrapnel-sleeve 57 is placed on the arbor 10, and the caps 11 and 11 areremoved and the roller raised by the tackle 59 and withdrawn in ahorizontal direction from the apron 39, and the wheel 16 is detachedfrom the arbor 8 and the grapnel-sleeve 57 applied in like manner andthe roll 8 raised and withdrawn.

By straining the aprons by elastically-supported rollers I am enabled topromote the durability of the aprons and to run with less friction, andby propelling the aprons by supporting and driving rollers from bothends I am enabled to guide them more accurately in straight lines andavoid buckling of them.

Having described my invention, What I claim is 1. In a machine forpreparing tobaccoleaves for manufacture, a pair of rolls, endless apronsof non corrosive material, arranged to convey leaves to said rolls, incombination with adjustable bearings and an idle roller supportedtherein applied to the under side of the upper apron and arranged tooperate as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a machine for preparing tobaccoleaves for manufacture a pair ofrolls, endless aprons of non corrosive material arranged to feed saidrolls, in combination with adjustable bearings and with means forelastically applying tension to said aprons as and for the purpose setforth.

3. In a machine for preparing tobaccoleaves for manufacture thecombination of endless aprons of non-corrosive material with scrapers ordoctors and means for elastically pressing the said doctors against saidaprons and means for vibrating said doctors in contact with said apronsas and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a machine of the class specified, a pair of rolls, a pair ofendless metallic aprons arranged to pass between said rolls, a pair ofhousings and bearings supporting said rolls, removable slotted caps onsaid housings and bolts and nuts securing the same to said housings incombination with grapnels constructed to fit on the arbors of saidrolls, and suspended trolleys and tackles arranged to retract said rollsand replace the same Within the loops of said aprons substantially asset forth.

5. In a machine of the class specified a pair of rolls, means forelastically forcing said rolls toward each other and an apron arrangedto convey tobacco-leaves between said rolls in combination with rollershaving springs applied to the bearings thereof and sprocket-Wheels andendless chains arranged to elastically stretch said aprons and drive thesame with a velocity equal to that of the pair of rolls as and for thepurpose set forth.

6. In a machine of the class specified a pair of rolls, an endlessfeeding-apron arranged to convey tobacco-leaves between said rolls, anupper roller and a second endless apron embracing the upper roll of saidpair and the upper roller and means for adjusting v

